July 25, 2013 05:47 PM CDTJuly 25, 2013 05:47 PM CDTEmmitt Smith: When I returned to Dallas as an Arizona Cardinal, my soul for the game left, and I started crying like a baby

Emmitt Smith: When I returned to Dallas as an Arizona Cardinal, my soul for the game left, and I started crying like a baby

1/72

STEVE HAMM / DMN File Photo

THE BEST OF EMMITT SMITH: Emmitt Smith: Looking back, it's simply incomprehensible that Smith fell to the No. 17 overall pick in the 1990 draft. If the first 16 teams had a do-over on that one, Smith would go no lower than first. By the time he retired after the 2004 season, he was football's all-time rushing leader. Cowboys fans got such joy from watching him run that they could even forgive those two seasons he played for Arizona at the end of his career. He signed a one-day, no-pay contract with the Cowboys so that he could retire as a Cowboy — as it should be.

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmit Smith joined Elf & Slater on KRLD-FM this week to talk about the team. Here are some highlights:

On what his first day as a Cowboy was like:

“Well, game day, we played against the San Diego Chargers. I didn’t play a whole lot. I got two carries for only two yards. It wasn’t a productive day for me. It was somewhat of a disappointment. But I think we won the game, which was great.”

On what his first day as a Cardinal was like:

“Well, I didn’t look at the uniform. You probably did. The most painful moment was probably coming back here to Texas Stadium to play against the Dallas Cowboys and getting dressed in the visitors locker room. That broke my heart because that’s when I realized how much I loved the Dallas Cowboys and how much that love for that organization meant to me as a football player and made me do the things on the football field that I wanted to do. I think that day was the day that my soul for the game left.”

On if he regretted leaving Dallas at that moment:

“No, I didn’t because it cleared it up for me that it was time for me to move on and that my time had come and gone. The only thing left for me to do was to honor my contract with the Arizona Cardinals and give them the best that I could for the remaining time I had for my contract. But sitting in that locker room, getting dressed in the visitors locker room knowing I was supposed to be on the other side, it brought tears to my eyes before the game. I was crying and sobbing like a baby. This is not my locker room. I am not supposed to be in here. I’m looking at Damien Anderson, Marcel Shipp, Josh Scobey and James Hodgins, my running back group, and they’re looking at me on the bench crying like a baby, I mean sobbing. I couldn’t stop sobbing. I’m saying this out loud. I’m not supposed to be here. This is not my locker room. It hit me so hard, and I had to go out and play. Unfortunately for me, I got hurt. But I knew right then coming back home, man, this is not right.”

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.